How the Air France-KLM HEC Paris Joint Senior Leadership Program Empowers Future Leaders to Take-Off

Crises and resilience characterize the aviation sector. Air France-KLM saw in COVID’s ‘ending’ an opportunity to open a new chapter by developing and empowering its high-potential leaders. To do so, they capitalized on the expertise of HEC Paris Executive Education to co-design the Joint Senior Leadership Program. Let’s guide you through this new Air France-KLM era with Constance Thio, Executive Vice President of HR and Sustainability for Air France-KLM, and Guido Gianasso, Professor of Leadership at HEC Paris and the program's Academic Director.

From recovery to empowerment 

With extensive experience in the aviation sector as Vice-President and ExCom Member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Guido Gianasso has interacted with countless airline industry employees. Reflecting on the post-COVID era, he notes, "Employees were hoping to see the airline industry rebound and move from constant crisis management to more positive days of work." This optimism was echoed at Air France-KLM, which was working on its leadership model. In 2023, the group decided to send a positive message to its staff: Air France-KLM has a bright future ahead; now it is time to focus on what truly matters.

"We have many different DNAs within our group, so we decided to create an inspirational model with guiding principles that everyone could relate to.”

For Constance Thio, developing a training program for their high-potential directors was the best option to establish this common reference and highlight the group’s goals defined in the leadership model. 

Participant Alexandre Muller-Feuga, Pricing Director North Atlantic at Air France-KLM, could not agree more after following the Air France-KLM-HEC Paris program. “No matter our level in the hierarchy, we, as managers of a larger corporation, can and should develop our ownership mindset in our daily work. This enables us not only to constantly challenge our collective model and purpose, but it also makes our daily working life much more creative and meaningful.”

Switching from ‘I do my job’ to the question ‘Is my team believing in what we do, and does it make sense and deliver true value for the greater purpose of the company ?,’ to quote Alexandre, is one of the greatest achievements of the program.

Collaborating with HEC Paris to achieve three key objectives

Developing the program with HEC Paris was the obvious choice. Constance Thio herself attended one of HEC Paris’s customized programs for Air France-KLM a decade ago. She reminisces,

"The program was invaluable for my personal development, and the network and the diverse mix of participants made it memorable."

Constance continues to work closely with the people she met during the program many years after. She aimed to instil this unique bond between colleagues within different entities in the company, while achieving three main objectives:

• Developing Air France-KLM’s managers who have a clear growth potential and helping them rethink their leadership style.

• Preparing for change by building a willing coalition of successful change leaders ready to drive change across organizational, geographical and cultural boundaries.

• Fostering unity within the organization. This program helps participants to develop a network of friends and colleagues from different businesses and airlines in the company, breaking silo’s and discovering new perspectives.

The journey HEC Paris Executive Education imagined around these three objectives was well received by the group. "The senior team and executive committee at Air France-KLM are world-class; they brought invaluable ideas and are very open to our suggestions," explains Guido. 

Combining awareness, knowledge, actionable ideas, and self-development 

The program successfully integrated personal development with collective action, combining theory and practical application. "Leadership involves knowing yourself, so we ensured participants left each module with new ideas, increased self-awareness, concrete solutions, and techniques for their own development," says Professor Gianasso. To do so, the academic team orchestrated a highly experiential program around two key thematics. 

For Zsofia Varay, Corporate Finance Operation Manager at Air France-KLM, the HEC Paris Joint Senior Leadership program acted as a real eye-opener that helps better understand Air France-KLM’s current uncertain and ever-changing environment.

“It gave us a smart toolbox to navigate cross-cultural organizations, build trust and dynamics, and drive excellence within a team.”

Module 1: Leading in a Context of Transformation

Pierre Razoux, Academic and Research Director at the Institut FMES (Fondation méditerranéenne d'études stratégiques) discussed geopolitics, energy transition, climate change, technological progress, etc. and their impact on the airline industry. Prof. Guido Gianasso deepened their knowledge of leadership in a VUCA world, including leadership styles and personality, and how culture influences us and our work in a multicultural environment. On the last day of the program, French Air Force General Dutartre, former Commander of the French Acrobatic Team (Patrouille de France), also spoke to highlight intriguing parallels between corporate leaders and air force pilots.

Module 2: Managing Business Through Turbulence

In Woerden, Netherlands, participants embarked on a transformational experience involving innovation and strategic thinking. Professor Hélène Musikas demonstrated how to re-invent a business model based on concrete examples. Rob-Jan de Jong expanded participants’ strategic thinking by exploring different ways of implementing a disciplined approach to resolving complex issues.  

Theoretical approaches to leadership constituted the backbone of the program. However, reflective talks, high-impact practical sessions and even fun experiences punctuated the learning journey. Among the program's highlights was the fencing session, which allowed participants to collaborate uniquely! 

Connecting the dots and thinking beyond tomorrow 

While modules on cultural intelligence, strategy, working across cultures, and innovation focusing on cognitive biases laid the groundwork for better leadership, participants also had the chance to gain perspective through a talk with external VIP speakers. “Working in the airline sector is highly operational,” explains Guido.

“95% of airline personnel focus on resolving immediate issues, ensuring travelers reach their destinations on time and safely”.

This can be exciting. But it can also isolate them from broader perspectives. "Thinking about larger topics and trends outside Europe isn't their priority, though it's crucial for staying relevant and predicting the future," warns Guido. 

To give participants new perspectives, the program also welcomed Adefunke Adeyemi, Secretary General of the African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC), who shared her vision as a leader in the industry. These insightful talks allowed Air France-KLM senior directors to understand that aviation is not just about France and the Netherlands,  and relationships with the government. Understanding where your biggest competitors are, how they operate, and what challenges they face is crucial, too.

Connecting people to provide valuable insights for management

The Joint Senior Leadership Program culminated in the Symposium Day, which acted as the program's closing event and allowed participants to showcase their group work on a topic explored throughout the whole learning journey. Supported by an Air France-KLM mentor and an HEC Paris coach, each group tackled a concrete, beneficial topic for the organization during and between modules. On the very last day, they presented their recommendations to a panel of the management team and executive committee.

"The energy was incredible, the ideas brilliant!" says Constance. Seen as the ‘moment of truth,’ the panel shared their feedback and made decisions about each project.

“Some ideas were so well-developed that we followed up on them the very next day,” adds Constance Thio. 

The symposium was a moment of celebration, which was encouraging in terms of inspiration and empowerment, two key elements needed for the future of Air France. The journey designed with HEC Paris was also an opportunity to nurture the ‘joie de vivre’ typical with Air France-KLM employees. “What sets the Aviation sector apart from all others is its people: passionate about their job and travel, curious to discover different cultures, and ready to enjoy every moment of life,” shared Guido on LinkedIn.

Having the best people on board to face upcoming challenges

For Constance, challenges continue to shape the aviation sector. "The airline industry is already highly competitive with many risks, but COVID was different," she explains. Recovering from such a crisis was not easy. "It's like a big train that stops; it takes a lot of effort to get up and run again." Additionally, the pressure on sustainability has intensified for companies like Air France-KLM.

These challenges require ongoing change management and an adjusted strategy, all while keeping the business operational. "What we expect from our workforce—adapting to a constantly changing environment—is quite demanding," Constance notes, confident the Joint Senior Leadership Program has well-prepared the group’s talents to meet future challenges. It even exceeded its goals.

For Eefje Godding, Director of Direct Sales & Digital Marketing Benelux at Air France-KLM, the programme reactivated her curiosity. It gave her confidence to explore and learn by doing again:

“It created an openness in engaging with other people, topics, and situations by being comfortable with the awareness that you will never know and understand everything.”

Professor Guido Gianasso was also impressed by the participants' enthusiasm and their message: Let’s change faster! "What I witnessed through the program was unexpected. Participants were incredibly committed, enthusiastic, and full of energy, and they were almost pushing their management team to think more outside the box, be more innovative, and push boundaries," he observes.

Zsofia Varay concludes: “This program is a unique opportunity in our everyday business life to connect with colleagues, meet and exchange with outstanding speakers, and last but not least, have great fun! It definitely ‘makes sense!”

In terms of innovation, creativity, ownership, entrepreneurial mindset, and a desire to drive positive change, this learning experience checked all the boxes. Indeed, with the Joint Senior Leadership Program, both Constance and Guido agree that Air France-KLM talents now feel more mature, independent, and empowered to lead strategic changes within the group. "All participants now understand what it takes to develop and implement an idea—from inception to maturity—and the steps required to formulate a coherent main strategy," Constance concludes.

If you want your teams to manage change more effectively, lead successfully in turbulent times, ignite innovation within your organization, or address any other specific challenge, contact our custom program team. They can help craft a learning journey for your employees adapted to your objectives and industry. Shape the future of your organization with HEC Paris Executive Education now.